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What is it? Lectio Divina is a slow, contemplative
praying of the Scriptures that combines the study method you have
learned with meditation and pray; enable you to take your study
of the Bible to become a means of union with God. It can be done
in a four-step process.
Step One: Reading Section - You will
probably spend the bulk of your time on this section. The Reading
has to do with FACTS.
~ Read a portion of the Bible and seek out God to reveal a section
to you.
~ Take at least three words from your passage and study them.
~ Describe how this passage relates to God’s plan and how
this fits into the Bible’s message as a whole.
Step Two: Meditation Section - this section will
require that you do some imaginative work on your own. You probably
won’t find many answers in a book or sermon. Meditation has
to do with THINKING about the text.
~ Values: Come up with three goals, ideas, or sentiments in your
text.
~ World View: How is God portrayed in your passage? Explain the
image of God, which is communicated by the passage. Is God a warrior,
judge, father, etc.?
~ Virtues: Come up with two virtues the text promotes or discourages,
ie: selflessness, pride, humility, vanity, truthfulness, etc.
Step Three: Prayer Section - this section will
require that you actually pray with the passage. What does God want
to say to you or to us through your passage? The Prayer has to do
with EMOTIONS.
~ Dialogue: Write a prayer addressed to God based in some way
on your passage and what you’ve learned about God while
doing this exercise. Begin to examine your feelings and enter
into a dialogue between yourself and God. This is the spontaneous
meeting of the heart of God with the heart of God's beloved creature
through the Word of God.
~ Deliberation: Has this passage changed you in any way? Do you
see yourself, others or God differently now? Consider what you
want to do about all this. Is there anything that you can see
coming out of this process?
Step Four: Action Section - this section looks
at ways of doing something about the text. The Action has to do
with CHOICES.
~ Decision: give form and substance to the choice you make. What
you do about your encounter with the Living God will verify the
authenticity of the encounter. Decision: Is there anything you
can imagine doing differently now that you have encountered God
in the Living Word of God?
Questions
on Bible Study
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